The one speaking right now wasn’t anyone else—it was Medicine King Simon Sun. Instantly, cold sweat broke out all over Ryan Ling. His parents had both been seriously injured, but with careful treatment, their bodies had been gradually recovering—his father could even get out of bed and walk yesterday. Now, hearing this news out of nowhere, it was like being struck by lightning.
Ryan didn’t hesitate for a second. He rushed toward his parents’ room, and everyone else hurried after him.
"What the hell is that?" The moment Ryan stepped into his parents’ room, he saw it—a freaky handprint on his dad’s back. It was massive, and inside it were nothing but dead faces, one after another, too many to count.
"No idea!" No one present knew either. Everyone just shook their heads.
"Ghost Elder, do you know anything?" Ryan quickly asked the Ghost Elder inside him. Ghost Elder shook his head—clearly, he was clueless too.
Watching his father in pain, Ryan felt like his heart was being fried in hot oil.
Lately, everything Ryan did revolved around his parents. From the World Dominion Society’s actions and words, it was obvious his parents had some kind of special past. Ryan tried asking them, but his parents honestly didn’t know—the last ten years were a total nightmare, spent in chaos from start to finish.
Ryan had even wanted to ask Guihai One-Blade, but Guihai didn’t give any answers—maybe he didn’t know either. That just made Ryan even more confused. What had his parents really gone through? Or maybe their memories were sealed by some terrifying existence? And even weirder, the Book of Life and Death in Hell didn’t list their names at all!
Right now, a whole mess of confusing questions swirled above Ryan’s head!
It was like having a thorn jabbed deep in his heart!
"Ryan, don’t worry about that stuff for now—use Heavenwood spirit liquid to suppress it temporarily." Seeing his dad in so much pain, Ghost Elder spoke up from inside Ryan.
"Got it!" Ryan didn’t hesitate and immediately poured the spirit liquid in. Instantly, his dad’s pain eased up, his face relaxed, and that freaky blood mark on his back slowly faded away.
"I have to figure out what the hell is going on here! The three big clans of Jinling ganged up on my parents, now the World Dominion Society’s involved, and there’s something even scarier lurking behind the scenes. Even though I’ve rescued my parents, I can feel some invisible gaze locked onto them. If I don’t get to the bottom of this fog, my parents will always be in danger. Sure, I’ve got Guihai One-Blade backing me up for now, but he’s not gonna protect us forever!" Ryan gritted his teeth.
"Ryan, I just thought of something—maybe we can dig up a clue! Where did your family live before you moved to Linhai City in East River State?" Ghost Elder suddenly asked.
"I think it was Yue City in Su Province, but I’m not sure. I was probably just born back then!" Ryan replied quickly.
"Yue City’s not far from Jinling. You should check things out over there. Jinling’s a mess right now, but Yue City’s a quiet little mountain town—perfect for healing up. Plus, if your parents go there, maybe they’ll remember things from the past!" Ghost Elder said, and Ryan nodded.
For Ryan’s parents, Jinling was a place of heartbreak, and Linhai was way too high-profile for recovery. But this small Yue City was just right—peaceful, and really their true hometown.
And there was another thing—Kenneth Li and Gabriel Xue kept saying Japanese ‘wokou’ were stirring up trouble in Jiangnan, and this time their main target was Su Province. Ryan had already planned to check out Su Province, so heading to Yue City would kill two birds with one stone.
He talked it over with his parents—they were already sick of Jinling and were more than happy to go back home.
The next day, Ryan started prepping for the trip to Yue City. On the official side, Kenneth Li sent Gabriel Xue with elite troops to quietly infiltrate Su City and coordinate with the provincial bigwigs. As for Su Province’s major clans—the provincial capital was Qianzhou—Serena Yan, Anqi Chen, and the other girls would take care of that. Armed with Ryan’s Saint canonization token, they were unstoppable—wherever they went, doors opened, and nobody dared refuse.
Everyone was fully prepped, ready to surround the Japanese wokou entrenched in Su Province and pull off a classic ‘shut-the-gate-and-beat-the-dog’ maneuver. Of course, they had to take it slow—no rushing, no spooking the enemy.
"That up ahead should be Yue City—still the same as ever, hasn’t changed a bit. I haven’t been here in twenty years, dreamed of coming back!" At the entrance to the mountain city, Ryan Qingyun was overcome with emotion, and Grace Zhou’s eyes reddened.
Ryan didn’t remember this place at all—it was all his parents’ memories. Seeing them happy made him happy too.
"Stop, stop!" But just as their little car was about to enter Yue City, a line of uniformed men blocked them.
"What’s going on?" Ryan was stunned. This trip to Yue City was just the three of them—no entourage, just a regular car. His parents didn’t want any fanfare, just a quiet return home. Ryan wanted to feel normal for once, so everything was low-key, none of the Saint-level pomp.
If Ryan had traveled as a Saint, the whole city would’ve knelt to greet him. Every big shot in Su Province would’ve bowed down too—that’s the ritual, and no one dares break it. Ryan was now Jiangnan’s First Saint, his status through the roof. A mere province would have to kneel before him.
"Road ahead is closed, all vehicles must detour!" One of the uniformed guys said with total contempt.
Ryan didn’t like the attitude, but just as he was about to turn the wheel, another car cruised past right next to him—and the uniformed guys didn’t stop it at all.
(This chapter isn’t finished yet~.~ Click next page to keep reading the good stuff!)
"Why’d they let that car through but stopped mine?" Ryan blurted out.
"Why are you so nosy? Just leave already, quit asking questions!" The uniformed guy snapped, his tone turning harsh.
"Son, let it go. Just follow the traffic rules and take another route!" Ryan Qingyun said quickly from the back seat.
"Alright, Dad, I’ll listen to you." Ryan swallowed his frustration and turned the car around.
After driving a few dozen meters, one of the uniformed guys suddenly muttered something under his breath. Normally, no one would’ve heard it, but Ryan’s cultivation let him catch every word.
"Where’d these country bumpkins come from? Driving such a crappy car and still think they can pass here? Why don’t they open their damn eyes and look around. Tonight, Mandy Zhang—the Zhang Family’s First Miss—is throwing her birthday bash here. Every big shot in Yue City has to come congratulate. You think you can come have a drink too? Pah!"
Hearing that, Ryan’s jaw clenched. He’d thought little Yue City would be peaceful, but turns out bullies are the same everywhere—crows are black all over the world.
"Son, why’d you suddenly slow down?" Grace Zhou asked from the back.
"Nothing, just couldn’t find the road for a second!" Ryan quickly made up an excuse.
"Up ahead, turn left at the big locust tree, then right, through two alleys—just keep going and you’ll get there. This place hasn’t changed a bit after all these years!" Ryan Qingyun really knew his way around.
He’d already contacted a few old neighbors living here—they were getting a welcome feast ready in a big courtyard, waiting for him. That courtyard held memories of their youth; just mentioning it made Ryan’s parents excited.
"Alright, got it—we’re almost there. Just sit tight!" Seeing his parents so happy, Ryan felt warm inside. The earlier unpleasantness was forgotten as he drove straight toward that cozy old courtyard.
"Weird. What are Old Xu and Old Lu up to? I’ve called them a bunch of times and no one’s picking up. Maybe they’re planning a huge surprise for me?" Ryan Qingyun said, clutching his phone, a little anxious.
"Don’t worry, Dad. You and your old buddies haven’t seen each other in years—they’re obviously trying to hype you up!" Ryan reassured his father. But just as he turned the corner, almost at the courtyard, a deafening roar of machinery blasted in his ears.
Ryan looked up and saw a massive excavator smashing down a courtyard wall. Inside, people were crying and shouting, and food, pots, and bowls were scattered everywhere.
"What are you doing? You bandits!"
"This is insane! Can’t you see there are people inside? Driving a bulldozer in here—Old Xu, Old Xu, hurry, save us!"
"Not good, run! They’re nuts, they really want to crush all of us to death in here!"
The people inside screamed, and what made Ryan’s scalp tingle was that the massive bulldozer kept barreling into the courtyard, like it really meant to crush everyone inside…